The job of getting children ready fortomorrowstarts today.The School District of Lee County recognized the commitment that Childcare of Southwest Florida (CCSWFL) makes to preparing young children for kindergarten by selecting two CCSWFL centers as Preferred Pre-K Providers.

Early education offers children the chance to socialize with other children, learn more about themselves, learn how to problem solve, build confidence and much more. But this doesn’t happen alone – it happens at the hands of teachers!

Math is everywhere. Concepts such as counting, sorting and time are involved in pretty much everything we do. That’s great news for parents, because we have lots of opportunities to give our little ones a head start and get them comfortable with math at an early age.

In his years as a cartoonist and children’s writer, Dr. Seuss (whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel), created some of the world’s most famous books and illustrations, including Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax. But what really makes the work of Dr. Seuss noteworthy, are the valuable life lessons that can be found throughout his writing.

Encouraging your child to set goals is important because not only can it improve their confidence and build their self-esteem, but it also helps them focus and make better decisions. Along with this, goal setting can be used to motivate your child by ensuring that they achieve smaller goals on a regular basis. With this in mind, teach your children the importance of goal setting and how to go about it.

You see these acronyms everywhere but what do they really mean? It seems like now-a-days educators are always talking about STEM, STEAM, STREAM and with good reason. The importance of STEM is to educate and prepare children in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Soon after STEM, evolved STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. By incorporating art into the mix, this adds the design and creativity needed to look at a situation and develop a plan. This allows children to increase their technical skills but use creative ingenuity. Now let’s add the newest acronym, STREAM – science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math. This movement recognizes that reading is foundational to all early childhood education subjects. Essentially, STEM, STEAM and STREAM are being implemented to ensure that your child receives a well-rounded education.

Playing outdoors is the best place for your preschooler to practice and master emerging physical skills. The outdoors can help children freely and fully experience motor skills such as running, jumping and leaping. Set up an obstacle course with old tires, large appliance boxes, and tree stumps. Moving through it will teach important concepts like over, under, through and around.

Brown & Brown Insurance of Southwest Florida presented the second annual Par-Tee for Tots charity golf tournament to benefit Child Care of Southwest Florida on Friday, Oct. 27 at West Bay Golf Club in Estero. The four-person scramble raised more than $28,000 for Child Care of Southwest Florida, whose mission is to enhance the lives of children and their families through quality early childhood education and related serviceds to promote health and school readiness. A very special thank you to all of our sponsors who helped make this event a huge success!

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Grammy Tammy’s tips for keeping your child learning all summer long

It’s summer time and the living is easy! But that’s why most children tend to fall behind in their schooling for the upcoming year. This “summer slide” refers to the way children can forget what they have learned during the previous school year over their summer break. We’re not just talking about the little things like knowing their state’s capital or how to write their name, but more important skills such as math and reading. For preschoolers, especially, these are the skills they need to keep building for the following school year.